This application relates to separators utilized for separating fluids produced from hydrocarbon wells, specifically to separators utilized for separating fluids produced from a hydrocarbon well during the flowback of drilling and stimulation fluids which are produced during the initial testing of a producing zone or following completion, re-completion, workover, or stimulation. Because this type of production frequently occurs with a drilling rig or work-over rig still on the well location, the well location is typically crowded with the rig and associated components, tanks, pumps, logging units, cementing units, pump trucks, drill string components, casing components, support vehicles, and other equipment utilized in the drilling or work-over operation. Because of the large array of equipment which is typically moved in and out of the location, there may be little space available at the well location. This problem is further exacerbated on offshore platforms, drilling islands, piers, and other remote well locations where available space for equipment can be extremely limited.
The availability of space at the well location can be further complicated when the well is stimulated by hydraulic fracturing and/or acidizing. Hydraulic fracturing typically requires large volumes of liquids and sands or other solids utilized as “proppant” to maintain the hydraulically induced fractures in an “open” configuration. Acidizing typically requires large volumes of stimulation fluids, displacement fluid, and the associated pumping equipment. The liquids and solids required for these and other work-over procedures are typically delivered to the well location in tanker trucks, bulk transport trucks, pods, railcars, workboat, and other modes of transport. These pieces of equipment are typically large and can consume a significant amount of the available footprint at the location.
The fluids produced from a well which has been placed on production following drilling, work-over, and/or stimulation, such as by hydraulic fracturing, may contain a number of components which are difficult to manage on a crowded well location, such as a high concentration of solids, high gas production rates, and returned stimulation fluids, such as spent acid or frac fluids. Producing these initial fluids, solids, and spent stimulation fluids into a temporary production and gauging system is generally favored over production into the permanent production system, which may not even be an option given the well location.
Moreover, temporary production systems dedicated to a single well facilitates the acquisition of data regarding the volume and make-up of the initial fluid and solid components produced from the well which may assist in evaluating the well and producing reservoir.
In the current typical practice, after the produced fluids and solids are directed through a solids separator and two phase gas-liquid separator, the produced fluids and solids are produced into open top tanks. These tanks allow the release of any entrained volatile organic compounds into the atmosphere. The escape of these VOCs into the atmosphere is undesirable because of the escape of the pollutants. However, no practical and satisfactory solution for temporarily producing the solids and fluids from newly completed and stimulated wells has been developed. A necessary component for a temporary production system which solves this problem would be a portable separator which: (a) occupies a relatively limited amount of space of the well location; (b) efficiently separates oil, gas, and solids; (c) captures fugitive VOCs; (d) is relatively easy to transport to and from the location; and (e) is relatively easy to clean following the receipt of significant volumes of solids.